I used to hate Valetine's day and spend it always with other single friends, creepy movie and containers of ice creams- complaing about lack of love life. It changed when I came to US and found out that here it is celebrate as a day of relationships between people. I made with children (who I take care of) many Valentine's day's cards- for everyone in each class. They brought back big bags of cards from other children- it was sweet and fun. And then I thought I also want to spend that day celebrating relationships! So Iinvited friends for dinner. The idea of dish came from Vegetarian Times which I bought few days before on Penn Station when I was waiting for the train. Name of dish:

Grilled Eggplant Involtini

It is a veg version of a classic Italian beef recipe.

2 large eggplant, 1 peeled and diced (3 cups), 1 cut into 8 slices, divided
3 tomatoes, halved and seeeded
1 medium onion, diced (1,5 cups)
6 Tbs. olive oil, divided
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves, plus more for garnish
1/4 cup kalamata olives
3 Tbs. capers, drained
2 Tbs. chopped parsley
2 Tbs. nutritional yeast
2 cups prepared tomato sauce

Preparation:


1.Preheat oven to 375 F. Toss together diced eggplant, tomatoes, onion, 3 Tbs. olive oil, and garlic in bowl. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Spread on baking sheet, and roast 25 minutes, or until vegetables are browned and tender.

2. Transfer to food processor, and add sun-dried tomatoes, basil, olives, capers, parsley, and nutritional yeast: process until chunky- smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

 3. Heat remaining 3 Tbs. oil in grill pan over medium-high heat. Cook eggplant slices on grill pan 3 minutes per side, or until tunder. Cool.

4. Spoon 1/4 cup roasted vegetables onto egde of each grilled eggplant slide. Roll eggplant slices into logs.

5. Place them seam-side-down in prepared baking dish. Spoon tomato sauce over eggplant rolls in dish. Bake 10 minutes, or until tomato sauce is hot and bubbly. Garnish with basil leaves.

6. ENJOY!!!

My suggestions: The eggplant skin is a little bit hard so it can works better if you peel all of them. I also  felt(since I am a zucchini lover) like replace eggplants from inside by zucchinis- that's what I will do next time;). It was very taste!!!

Additional information: per serving (2 rolls): 380 kcal, 9 g protein, 25 g total fat, 39 g carbs, `0 mg cholesterol , 990 mg sodium, 16 g fiber, 17 g sugars

Nutritional yeast- it is a source of protein and vitamins, especially the B-complex vitamins, and is a complete protein. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium and is free of sugar, dairy, and gluten. Some brands of nutritional yeast, though not all, are fortified with vitamin B12.Nutritional yeast has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes. It is often used by vegans in place of parmesan cheese.